Features

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Point of View: Enough

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Enough - Deposit Photos

I usually use this column to talk about writing – things I’m working on, my approach to the craft, and other random thoughts that occur to me about stories and books and publishing in general. Every now and then, I veer off into a little hope punk – the inspirational side of things, reminding folks that there is still good in the world, even when everything seems so dark. But today, I have something heavy weighing upon my soul. A month or so ago, Pastor Casey Tinnan, a local gay pastor here in the Sacramento area and a man who … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Chloe Archer

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Chloe Archer

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Chloe Archer writes M/M sci-fi and paranormal rom coms with laugh out loud humor because she’s all about bringing the funny-sexy back. Oh, yeah! She currently calls Minnesota home, but has lived abroad in places like Montreal, Edinburgh, and Tokyo. She’s hoping to relocate to Scotland permanently one day if the stars align.  Chloe is a fur mama to two adorable Yorkies, Jasper and Teddy, and she loves them in a crazy dog … Read more

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Point of View: Cords for Everything (or Why I hate Going Into the Garage)

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cords from our garage

Warning: heavy-handed metaphor ahead. Nine and a half months ago, I had an accident that could have snapped my neck. My bike tires slipped on something on the pavement and sent me flying fifteen feet though the air to slam into the concrete sidewalk. As bad as it was – my orthopedic surgeon said the top of my femur looked like it “exploded” – it could have been far worse, and I am properly grateful that it wasn’t. Mark and I decided it was probably time for new bikes – something a little steadier and harder to tip over than … Read more

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Author Spotlight: Marie Andreas

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Marie Andreas

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: Marie Andreas is a multi-award-winning fantasy and science fiction author with a serious reading addiction. If she wasn’t writing about all the people in her head, she’d be lurking about coffee shops annoying total strangers with her stories. So really, writing is a way of saving the masses. She lives in Southern California and is owned by two very faery-minded cats. She is also a member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy … Read more

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Review: Underhill Transit Services – Shirley Meier

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Underhill Transit Services

Genre: Poetry, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy Reviewer: Scott Get It On Amazon About The Book A poetry book about how the Fae and the Gods make the Subway theirs. The Review What if the Old Gods walked among us, and used the subway? That’s the fascinating premise behind Shirley Meier’s new poetry book, Underhill Transit Services. How would those Gods deal with the assorted nuisances, smells and inconveniences of traveling on the Underground? The answer is about as well as the rest of us. I loved the way Meier combined the mundane and mortal with the magical, often pissing off both … Read more

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Point of View: Rebuilding a Community After Pandemic

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Green sprouts - deposit photos

Four years ago, we had a good thing going her in SacTown. Our local LGBTQ+ writer’s group – the Queer Sacramento Authors’ Collective – was almost fifty folks strong. We were doing readings at the Lavender Library four times a year, meeting in person for lunch every other month, and had an ambitious plan to put on Sacramento’s first book festival. And then Covid struck, and obliterated it all in an instant. The festival was cancelled. The readings were too, though we managed to continue them sporadically on Facebook Live, in videos that few watched. And we managed occasional zoom … Read more

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Point of View: Drag Queens in Space

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Drag Queen in Space - Deposit Photos composite

One of the most loathed questions among my writer friends, and the one asked by almost every interviewer, is “Where do you get your inspiration from?” This question comes in many forms: The honest-to-God short answer is that no one f@cking knows. Writer’s brains are a little like those mazes the white coated lab scientists train rats with – dark, twisty, and with a bit of rat fur (and quite possibly droppings) around almost every corner. Writer brains are like a complex piece of machinery handed to a two-year-old child, who shakes it up and down energetically and turns it … Read more

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Author Spotlight: C.E. Page

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C.E. Page Logo

Welcome to my weekly Author Spotlight. I’ve asked a bunch of my author friends to answer a set of interview questions, and to share their latest work. Today: C. E. Page writes emotionally rich, character driven tales of magic and adventure, primarily in the adult epic fantasy genre. Her stories feature demigods and other divinely assisted misfits who would prefer it if megalomaniac fools would stop trying to destroy the known realms in their search for power.  She lives on the east coast of Australia with her partner Evan, their two children, and one of the world’s quirkiest dogs. An avid … Read more

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Amazing Review for The Dragon Eater

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Archer Kay Leah review - The Dragon Eater

Just got a freaking AMAZING 5 star review of The Dragon Eater from Archer Kay Leah. I am NOT crying. The Dragon Eater is an engaging work of speculative fiction featuring queer characters, this time blending traditional high (and epic) fantasy with the shiny glimmers of science fiction… As a fan of fantasy and sci-fi, I loved this book. The author’s experience with both genres shines through: the writing is tight and clear with everything well thought out and intertwined. There’s no fluff here—everything has a purpose, even if you can’t figure out what it is yet. The worldbuilding is there from the … Read more

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Point of View: Coming Down

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Coming Down - teen on floor with book on his face - deposit photos

Release week is over. The Dragon Eater came out last Thursday, and it was a freakin’ amazing experience. Although it didn’t top the Amazon charts – TY, Amazon algorithm, it sold well – my best new book launch in years. But it wasn’t the sales that fed my soul. It was the Zoom book launch on Saturday that Steven at Water Dragon Publishing set up for me. Steven says that normally they get 5-10 folks at these things, and have reached as high as twenty. We had double that, a wonderful cross section of folks from the various parts of … Read more